Traditional hemostatic materials include tourniquets, bandages and sterilized dressings. Other hemostatic materials include fibrin glues (FG), oxidized celluloses (OC), oxidized regenerated celluloses (ORC) and mineral zeolite-based hemostats. Fibrin glues are hemostatic adhesives that are biocompatible, and which likely mimic the spontaneous coagulation process while being independent of platelets and coagulation factors. Commercially available fibrin-based glue products include Beriplast P, Hemaseel, Biocol, Boheal and Quixil, etc. However, fibrin glues are costly to produce, may be a source of blood-borne diseases and infections, are complicated to apply and are slow in arresting bleeding.
Oxidized celluloses and oxidized regenerated celluloses are degradable, have antibacterial and hemostatic properties, and are especially effective in arresting slow bleeding. The hemostatic mechanism with these materials is proposed to be that the acidic carboxyl group in the molecule binds with the Fe3+ ion in the hemoglobin to generate the acidic Fe3+-hemin in blood, whereby red-brown gel blocks are formed to close the end of capillaries thereby arresting the bleeding. Nevertheless, the oxidized celluloses and oxidized regenerated celluloses may expand, which in turn may cause neurothlipsis. Examples of commercially available OC and ORC hemostats include the Oxycel series and the Surgical series.
Inert mineral zeolite particles were first found to have a hemostatic effect in the 1980s (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,822,349). In 2002, Z-Medica Corporation produced a type of new hemostatic material under the name of QuikClot™. These zeolite-based materials are apparently superior to other hemostatic materials in hemostatic efficacy. The hemostatic mechanism of mineral zeolites mainly resides in their extraordinary selective adsorption of water relative to erythrocytes, platelets and other coagulation factors, which leads to a quick hemostasis by concentrating the clotting factors at the injury site. However, mineral zeolite hemostats may be recognized as “foreign” and are not biodegradable.